


Now It's a Game You Can Win

by IndigoFudge



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dying in Their Arms, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Put Your Head On My Shoulder by Paul Anka, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie would do anything for Eddie, Singing, Soft Richie Tozier, Stanley Uris Lives, The Turtle CAN Help Us (IT)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28604271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndigoFudge/pseuds/IndigoFudge
Summary: After Eddie dies, Maturin sees how much Richie loved him and decides to give him a second chance at life.•A short oneshot.Title is a reference to the song Put Your Head On My Shoulder, by Paul Anka.This work contains lyrics to Put Your Head On My Shoulder as well.I do not own the rights to this song.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Now It's a Game You Can Win

Eddie is dying, and he knows this.

Richie knows this too. He's scooped Eddie up into his lap, cradling him close. "It's okay, you're okay," he murmurs over and over again like a mantra. "You'll be _fine,_ Eds, everything will be _fine._ " He presses a discreet kiss to Eddie's temple. 

Smiling briefly, Eddie sighs. "Rich," he breathes. "Richie. I..."

Richie hangs on to every word. "What is it, buddy?"

There are so many things Eddie wants to say. 'I love you,' for one. It would be so easy, and if Richie doesn't feel the same way, he'd just brush it off as a result of Eddie losing so much blood or something. Another option is 'Can you hold my hand?' because he's cold and craving as much touch as possible right now. Or 'Thank you.' Because he truly is grateful to Richie for staying and holding him. All of these words swim through Eddie's brain. He tilts dangerously close towards saying 'I fucked your mother;' the words are almost out of his mouth before his brain veers in an entirely different direction and he says "Sing."

"H- _what?_ "

"Sing," says Eddie again, his voice small. "Please."

He's struck by a memory.

* * *

_"'Put your head on my shoooooouuuldeer! Hold me in your arms, baabyyy...'" Richie sings, dramatically throwing his arms around Eddie. 'Put Your Head On My Shoulder'_ _is playing in the clubhouse, Paul Anka's crooning voice floating through the air._ _"'Squeeze me oh-so-tight, show me... that you looooove me tooooo!'" He has an enormous grin on his face as he bats his eyelashes._

_"Richiee!" gripes Eddie. "You're so annoying!" But he's not really annoyed, because why would he be? He sits complacently and lets Richie hug him._

_"'Put your lips next to miiiiiiiiine, dear!"' says Richie. "Won't you kiss me once, baaabyyy..." His lips pucker. "Come on, Eddie my love! Kiss me!"_

_Eddie shrieks. "Richie!_ _Are you_ trying _to make me sick?" He acts disgusted, even though inside he's flustered. "And_ don't _call me 'Eddie my love!'"_

 _Richie just ruffles his hair._

* * *

"Of course," Richie says gently. "Do you have any song you want? 'Cause otherwise I'll just default to the Duck Song, and I don't think-"

Eddie tries not to laugh, but he does anyway. Then it turns into coughing and Richie puts a comforting hand on his chest as he hacks up blood. "No Duck Song," he rasps when the coughing fit passes. 

(Richie's hand stays on his chest.)

"I was thinking... 'Put Your Head On My Shoulder.' You used to love that song, remember? Little... fourteen-year-old Richie, a- a regular Romeo.... you'd sing it to me." Eddie's eyes mist up. 

"Yeah, I remember." Richie sniffles. "I...... can sing that." 

Eddie leans his head into the crook of Richie's elbow. Full on tears are slipping down his face now. The finality of it all is weighing on him. _Richie's going to sing to me,_ he thinks, _and it's going to be the last thing I ever hear._ Man, what a way to die, though. Held in the arms of your closest friend, falling asleep to the sound of their voice. It's not _so_ bad... or at least that's what he tries to convince himself.

Richie clears his throat. "'Put your head on my shoulder... hold me in your arms, baby,'" he begins, voice faltering. " _Shit._ 'Squeeze me oh-so-tight, show me... that you love me tooo....'" One hand comes up and softly wipes away blood from Eddie's chin.

It strikes Eddie what a tender gesture that was.

"'Put your l-lips next to miiine, dear... won't you kiss me once, baby. Just a kiss goodnight, maybe... you and I will fall in love.'" Richie has grown quieter, but he starts the next sentence with renewed force, putting on a show just like he did when they were kids. "'People say that looove's a gaaame, a gaaame you just can't wiiiiinnn.... If there's a wayyyy, I'll find it somedayyy, and then this fool will rush iiinnn!'" He flashes a quick grin for Eddie before continuing. "'Put your head on my shoooooulderrrr, whisper in my ear babyyyy.... words I want to hear, tell me.... tell me that you love me tooo...'"

Eddie closes his eyes. He's so, _so_ tired. "I love you too, Richie," he mumbles, almost without thinking. 

"'Put y-'" Richie cuts off. "W- _what?!_ "

"I said I love you." Eddie finds the strength to open his eyes and give Richie an exhausted half-smile. "I... I can finally admit that to you now. Too bad I was only brave enough to tell you when I'm _dying,_ but-"

"I- I love you too!" Richie's stumbling over his words, as if trying to fit them all in before a timer runs out. "Eddie! Eddie, no, n- _no,_ hey, come on, I love you too! _Asshole,_ you don't get to just drop something like that on me and then clock out, so you gotta stay _awake,_ okay?!"

Eddie's eyes fall shut again. That was it, he realizes. That was all he needed to do. He can go now. "It's okay," he whispers to Richie. "It doesn't hurt."

" _That's bad!"_ says Richie, pulling Eddie closer. "I may be stupid, but- it's _supposed_ to hurt!"

Eddie isn't listening anymore. He manages to mouth "Thank you," and then he drifts away..

* * *

He wakes up in a sea of dark. But not dark like a sewer - dark like the deepest water in the quarry. There's a shadow in front of him that Eddie vaguely realizes is shaped like a turtle.

 _Do not be afraid,_ says the turtle. Only it doesn't really _say_ it. The words are just beamed directly into Eddie's brain. That, combined with the questionable choice of an opening statement, leads him to think-

"Are you an alien?" he says. 

_No. I'm God._

Eddie laughs.

The turtle doesn't.

"Oh," says Eddie, sobering up. "Oh, sorry, Mr. God, sir." And then he salutes. _What the fuck?_ he thinks. _Way to make a good first impression on fucking_ God.

_You died. Usually, that is final. For you and your friend, it is not._

"My- my friend?" Eddie starts to panic. " _Richie?!_ He died?!"

_Richie is alive - grieving, but alive._

Eddie's heart crashes with relief. "Thank fuck. Then who is-" But before he can finish the sentence, it hits him. "Stan!"

_Yes. You and Stanley were integral parts of the Lucky Seven, and because of that, you both perished. But the two of you were special. In Stan's final moments, he thought of his wife and how much he loved her. In your final moments, you and Richie shared an admission of love._

"Okay...?" _Maybe I'm being rude to God,_ Eddie thinks. _So sue me._ "Excuse me, I just wanted to go back to the part where you said our deaths weren't final?"

_No one who dies in Derry ever really dies. You and Stanley both had Derry in your blood. Therefore I have the power to revive you, if you so choose._

"If I so- of fucking _course_ I 'so choose!'" Eddie nearly spits out. "I mean, I- I'd just gotten started! I finally _remembered,_ I was finally brave enough to tell Richie... and you know I was going to divorce Myra when we got out of that fucking place? Call her right up and say, 'It's over.' And I was going to quit my job! I- I could have _had_ something, with Richie, and- _yes!_ Bring me back!"

Now the turtle does laugh, which is so deep that it shakes Eddie's bones.

_Your friend Stanley was just as insistent. No wonder the two of you got along._

Indignant, Eddie's jaw drops. "What the fuck is _that_ supposed to-"

* * *

"-mean-...?" He's back in the cavern, and the whole place is shaking. The first thing that strikes him is that Richie's being dragged away kicking and screaming.

" _Eddie! Eddie!_ Let me _go!_ We can still help him! _Eddie!"_

The second thing that strikes Eddie is that his wound is gone. He does a test cough; no blood comes out. "Richie?!" he shouts, jumping to his feet. "Richie!"

And even though Richie is almost out of sight, Eddie can see his face change. " _EDDIE! Guys, let me fucking GO! EDDIE! GUYS!"_

Eddie runs.

Richie breaks free of Ben's hold. " _EDDIE!"_ he screams.

"Richie!" yells Eddie. He's tearing up again. " _Richie!"_

They meet in the middle. Eddie gets the wind knocked out of him as Richie lifts him off the ground.

"Never knew I could be so happy to see your stupid face, Trashmouth," Eddie says. His words are muffled from his face being pressed into Richie's shirt. Despite the fact that the entire cave is collapsing, Eddie feels like time has stopped.

"Same to you, Eddie Spaghetti." Richie's voice breaks. He sets Eddie down on the ground. "We gotta _go,_ come on, we gotta- can you walk?"

Eddie nods, grabbing Richie's hand. "Yeah, I'm fine, my chest is fine, I'm not bleeding anymore." As they sprint across uneven ground and dodge debris, he remembers something else: "Hey, so, I met God, and- uh. We should probably call Patty."

* * *

A week, after rushed airplane tickets and a reunion even more joyful than the first, Richie and Eddie lie together in their Atlanta hotel room.

"We won," Eddie says. He gives Richie a kiss on the cheek. "It didn't get any of us. We _won,_ Rich."

"You bet your cute little ass we won." Richie kisses Eddie back. "Hey, you want some music?"

"I guess s-" Eddie starts, but the playlist is already being shuffled. When 'Put Your Head On My Shoulder' begins to play, he gasps softly.

Richie hooks his chin over Eddie's head. "'Put your head on my shoulder,'" he sings at the end. "'Whisper in my ear, baby... words I want to hear, baby... put your head on my shoulder.'" He gives a nervous laugh. "I, uh. Never got to finish it. I was interrupted by your really inconvenient love confession."

"Actually, according to God, it was perfectly convenient," says Eddie, smiling. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

And he realizes that for once in his life, he's actually excited about what the future will bring.


End file.
